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Pertaining to all railroading subjects, past and present, in New Jersey

Moderator: David

 #1581358  by GSC
 
I passed here every day when I worked in Freehold. I always kept an eye out for new railcars there. All the way back to when 84 Lumber got occasional cars. I never got to see anything being drilled, just a new arrival every few days. A boxcar for 84, then nothing for a while after 84 closed, until Brick opened and gondolas were spotted and being loaded, and then Bel-Ray's tank cars appearing. I don't go that way anymore on a regular basis but I do keep my eyes open.

One question: Extech had a boxcar sitting there for almost a month. Who pays for the car sitting there for so long? I recall just before this happened, a boxcar couldn't be delivered to Extech because of a dumpster and some trash blocking the siding.
 #1581359  by Bracdude181
 
Not sure why the boxcar sat for so long but I do know why there was such a long time between shipments until recently.

Turns out Extech was getting their bricks from Claytons brick factory in Lakewood for a while. That was until Clayton sold it to Cambridge Pavingstones. Guess Cambridge charges a lot more than Clayton did for them to suddenly start getting rail service again.
 #1581412  by JohnFromJersey
 
Bracdude181 wrote: Mon Sep 27, 2021 10:00 pm Brick Recycling and Bel Ray share the tracks within Brick Recyclings facility. When Conrail drops the tank off it sits in a certain spot until Bel Ray unloads it. This spot is an indication to Brick Recycling crews to not work near the car, as their cutting equipment makes a lot of sparks and you don’t want that next to 20,000 or so gallons of Ethanol!

Bel Ray sends a tanker truck during the night to unload the car, going back and forth between the Bel Ray property until the tank car is empty. Supposedly they close off one lane of Route 34 to do this.

The empty tank remains there until Conrail picks it up. They don’t always pick it up on the return trip though.
I still think it would make more sense to have some sort of plumbing added to the facility, or just give Bel-Ray their own spur off of Brick Recycling's; I assume the back and forth with a tanker (which I believe I have seen them close a lane on 34 so it would be possible) isn't a very fast or economic process. Perhaps doing either the spur or the plumbing setup would also allow Bel-Ray to potentially get more cars if needed?
 #1581417  by Bracdude181
 
@JohnFromJersey Bel Ray only ever gets 1-2 cars as needed so I don’t see them forking over the cost for a dedicated siding, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A pump to move the oil could work but right now they seem satisfied with the current method.
 #1581573  by exdirtbiker
 
Bracdude181 wrote: Tue Sep 28, 2021 11:15 pm @JohnFromJersey Bel Ray only ever gets 1-2 cars as needed so I don’t see them forking over the cost for a dedicated siding, which could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. A pump to move the oil could work but right now they seem satisfied with the current method.
Ironically, my bother worked for 84 Lumber (corporate) in the 90s as their site design engineer. He said that a new switch, siding, enviro studies, etc. was at least $1,000,000 depending on length / how complex.
 #1581580  by R&DB
 
#1581573 by exdirtbiker
Fri Oct 01, 2021 10:46 am
You used a key word in your cost description. That word is new which you used concerning the switch.This would cost about $800,000. But if you remove a used switch that is no longer in use and move it to the new location, it's about half that amount. Utilizing used rail you could save even more. A siding of this type only needs to be able to take the weight of the expected loads at very low speed.
 #1581582  by Bracdude181
 
@exdirtbiker The cost to build a rail siding is one thing that scares many people away from rail shipping. Especially in NJ. Although sometimes the cost depends on which contractor you use for the job. Conrail covers the cost of a siding depending on a few things. (Mainly how many cars a customer will get)

@R&DB That reminds me. My friend once told me about a customer that used to be down here in the 60s-70s. I think it was called Agway and it was either in Lakewood or Whitesville. It used very thin rail (50 lbs or less) and could only take the weight of one Alco RS3 and three hopper cars. Anything heavier risked breaking the track!

Conrail and CSX (not sure about NS) say that a customer siding must be at least Class 1 track for them to run on it and it must meet all FRA standards.

However, with the possibility of Chesapeake and Delaware becoming the new operator that will change. Sidings must meet their standards for use. One of which is that sidings must be built with new or #1 rail of at least 115 lbs. They will allow an existing siding to be used with 100 pound rail, but only if they say the customer can do so.
 #1581583  by R&DB
 
@R&DB That reminds me. My friend once told me about a customer that used to be down here in the 60s-70s. I think it was called Agway and it was either in Lakewood or Whitesville. It used very thin rail (50 lbs or less) and could only take the weight of one Alco RS3 and three hopper cars. Anything heavier risked breaking the track!
Agway was in Lakewood on County line Rd. Their siding was parallel to the Sou.Sec. on the East side of the main. They lasted until about 1990 and I shopped there several times in the 80s when we lived on Maxim Rd.
 #1581586  by GSC
 
Didn't hear anything about SA31 running yesterday (Thursday). Anything up for today?
 #1581588  by Bracdude181
 
They should run today. Never got an indication they ran yesterday. I won’t be out for it though. Might go see it when they go back.
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